Jennifer Newcomer

Jennifer Newcomer is the Director of Shift Research Lab, which is a program of The Piton Foundation. She leads Shift’s efforts to transform data into actionable information that improves the social sector’s ability to serve Colorado’s low-income communities. Through its products and services, Shift offers neighborhood-level data and analysis via online platforms like its flagship tool, Community Facts, performs objective research to support community change initiatives, and provides technical assistance that helps organizations build their capacity to use data. 

Her research focuses on social and built environment issues, particularly household neighborhood lifecycles and the forces impacting family economic wellbeing. Prior to working at Piton, she worked at the Denver Regional Council of Governments conducting land use forecasting and regional economic analysis.  She also has worked in real estate and construction managing projects from planning and design to build out.

Jennifer holds a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning with a focus on Economic Development from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Design from the University of New Mexico.